I need to warn before reading this does not have a happy ending.
I had been feeding the river cats since December of 2016 and on the way to feed them one day in February of 2018 just a couple weeks after rescuing Leo The Bank Cat I was diverted from my normal route by an accident and took an alternative route and along the alternative route came across to a colony of cats I now call The Magnificent Seven. Since taking on the responsibility of feeding The Magnificent Seven I established a new route and made them my first stop but one day as I was driving to them and happened to see these three beautiful TNR cats in an alley so I stopped and this is when I met Pretty Girl, Edge, and Zero. Pretty Girl got her name by me just talking to her and trying to build her confidence but quite honestly she was in bad shape, she was losing hair and had scabs on her from flea bites. “Edge” got her name from just staying on the edge of the alley while I was there and I also thought she was a he. “Zero” got his name because he didn’t want anything to do with me and I felt I had zero chance of gaining his trust which I’m proud to now say I was wrong. Anyways I began feeding these cats just like any other of my colonies dry food with wet on top and it was apparent these cats never had wet food because they would eat it like they were starving. After a couple of weeks I met someone at Pretty Girls colony that told me a lady sometimes came to feed them but I never knew who it was or did it change my mind because now I was developing a relationship and also whoever it was wasn’t supplying any water, any type of substance food and plus I had invested in flea medication and antibiotics for these cats so I continued to come every day. I eventually met this lady when she pulled up on me while feeding The Magnificent Seven, she claimed she also fed these cats even though I never saw any evidence of it and by now I had taken on the Sheriff’s Dept to keep them there and cared for so this wasn’t going to change. She offered that she would feed Pretty Girls colony and I could keep The Magnificent Seven colony so I agreed on that if she would continue to medicate. A few days go by and I was missing Pretty Girl, Edge and Zero so I stopped to say hi so when I pulled up on them Pretty Girl came running to me and this just made my world to know she missed me because this hadn’t happened before. I looked to see if their water was fresh and was going to sneak them some wet food and sure enough their water was nasty so I just decided I was going to call that woman and let her know I needed to just take care of them and did. A couple of weeks go by and I’m still feeding them on a consistent time and this is when I notice “Barbie” this absolutely beautiful gray Manx but she was very shy and wouldn’t come to eat with the colony so I just started feeding her on the side whenever she would show up. I ultimately decided Barbie wasn’t fit for colony life and I talked to that lady who already had her TNR and we agreed to just pull her and I also thought I found a home for her that sadly to this day hasn’t happened so I still have her but maybe this is where she was meant to be all along. A few more weeks go by and while feeding one day I noticed Pretty Girl had a bump over her eye and she wasn’t opening it so the next day I brought her antibiotics but this bump looked bigger and Pretty Girl wasn’t opening her eye so the next day I set a plan in action to trap her and get her help. I tried using a trap for two days and she wasn’t having it but she was in so much pain after a while she let me pick her up enough to put in a carrier. I stopped by the vet and got a Convenia shot then got her home and treated her abscessed wound and administered the shot. I ultimately kept Pretty Girl for 2 weeks to heal but she totally hated being here and crated and wasn’t being very nice to me either so I decided she just needed to go back to her colony for her own happiness so I took her back the next day. For the next few days, she seemed totally happy and things seemed to be back to normal then on the fifth day Pretty Girl wasn’t there to eat. I looked all over for her but had no luck and went home that night worried sick because she was always so consistent. Four days go by and still no sign of Pretty Girl then on the fifth day she was back with the colony. I’ll probably never know where she went or what happened but I was so relieved to see him and actually recorded it live on Team Leo. Sometimes when I fed these cats this rugged beautiful black beast cat I call “Sur” would come close to this colony interested in the food and me but kept a distance, I vowed to make him my friend and after a few weeks he was eating alongside this colony and I also gained his trust to touch and pet him. Now I’m looking forward to feeding these four cats everyday then one day this little black kitten about 9 weeks old made an appearance. I knew all these cats I fed were TNR so this kitten had to be from nearby or was dumped either way it seemed content to hang out and every day he was staying with the colony having Pretty Girl as his mother figure and Sur with being his mentor and I gave him the name “Rayzar.” Now I’m feeding five cats every day and occasionally two other males would come to eat, one was the cat I named Hunter and the other is Ceezar. Time goes by and all is bliss with this colony then one day this older looking calico Cat was there, she was cautious of me but after some small talk, she got brave enough to come up to the food offering. After a couple of weeks of working with this colony the calico cat was now being very friendly to me and eating with the colony so I got her trapped for TNR so she wouldn’t get pregnant and named her “ Hannah” Someone nearby had offered to take her so I was relieved she would get a home but a week goes by and she’s back at the colony so I got ahold of the person who had taken her and he said she wouldn’t stay inside. Hannah wasn’t ever accepted as a part of the colony and always slept along the curb on the grass of this family busy street which really bothered me so I’m thinking I’ll do what I can to help her get a home. A couple of months go by and Pretty Girl and Rayzar had really bonded and it was so beautiful to see Pretty Girl having such love as well it as so heartwarming to see Rayzar trying to be a big guy like his mentor Sur. I had Rayzar vetted and returned him to Pretty Girl but sadly one day a few months later I pulled up and seen Rayzar not looking good and acting sick so for the sake of trying to help him I brought him home and got him to the vet the next morning but he died that night possibly from Anti-freeze. Pretty Girl seemed totally lost and depressed not having Rayzar around and I did all I could to comfort her but she wasn’t ever the same. I was trying to help a church find an injured cat along with trapping a Raccoon so I would drive by Pretty Girls colony late at night and would see Hannah sleeping next to the street and I just knew this wasn’t going to end well so I ended up grabbing Hannah and brought her home. I began feeding two new cats within this colony Dallas & Silver, (Dallas had broken his leg and also developed FIP and spent his remaining days with me, Silver is TNR and still with the colony). I had established a great relationship with Pretty Girl and even had her giving me knuckles every day as a part of our love bond since she didn’t care to be touched and also in all this time Edge had decided I’m ok and will let me pet her. On Thursday, May 9th, 2019 I had discovered one of my colony kittens (Frannie) from the river must of had been caught up in all the recent flooding and died so I was already feeling devastated and broken-hearted but then on May 11th, 2019 I pulled up to Pretty Girls colony and Edge and Zero came up to my truck but no Pretty Girl so I immediately knew something wasn’t right. I called for her but nothing so I began to walk down the alley and then I seen her just laying there so I ran up to her but it was too late. She looked like she was just sleeping but I just knew this wasn’t going to be good so I reached down and picked her up and just cried. Nothing seemed to be foul play and she didn’t look like she got hit by a car I think she just must have had some underlying issue and just died. This whole scene just broke my heart into a million pieces to know I lost a great friend and to know she must have laid there in the rain all night helpless. I usually have to control my emotions for the sake of my cats but cried through all of my colony stops and I’m thinking I need to go back to make sure there isn’t no poison out or anything out that my others can get into so I headed back. I was basically driving doing my route in reverse when I notice a cat next to the street but it looked familiar, sure enough, as if my day wasn’t already bad enough “Arrow” had just been hit by a car and died. I somehow found the strength to get back to Pretty Girls colony to look around but didn’t see anything suspicious so I just assumed her cause of death was natural so I went home and I laid both Pretty Girl and Arrow to rest in my yard. Not one day goes by I don’t tear up before I get to Pretty Girls colony but I have to find a way to be happy and confident for my babies despite the pain because that’s who they know and love.